his integrity

(I included an excerpt of Stormie Omartian's chapter (called 'his integrity') here:

Why "his integrity"? Because 'The righteous man walks in integrity; his children are blessed after him.' - Prov. 20:7. Well i sure would love to have blessed children because of a husband who is a man of integrity. 

"Integrity is not what you appear to be when all eyes are on you. It's who you are when no one is looking. It's a level of morality below which you never fall. no matter what's happening around you. It's a high standard of honesty, truthfulness, decency, and honor that is never breached. It's doing for others the way you would want them to do for you.

A man of integrity says something and means it. He doesn't play verbal games so you never really know where he stands. He knows to let his "yes" be "yes" and his "no" be "no." "For whatever is more than these is from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37). He will not play both sides of the fence to please everyone. His goal is to please God and do what is right. A man can be highly esteemed among men but an abomination to God (Luke 16:15)". 

Sweet! 

Halloween - the Chick way

I love how Chick Publications suggest for all of us to do when trick-or-treating season comes: instead of locking the doors, closing the windows, turning off the lights and ‘pretending’ to be asleep, here is what we can do to EVANGELIZE:

(Yes, the Gospel doesn't sleep!)

When trick-or-treaters come knocking on your door, be sure to have the candy bags ready - with a Gospel tract included!

(Courtesy of Chick Publications)

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO…If the Lord Jesus knew that one night each year a steady stream of unsaved children would come to His door asking for a treat?

You answer.. :-) 

This is something we may not have thought of doing before - but we now have a month to prepare for!

Kids think Gospel tracts are comic books. Who doesn't love comic books when you're a kid?

Parents care and do inspect the candy bags their children get on Halloween night. And what do they find amid the sweets? They’ll get the Gospel, too!

Now we got ourselves a month to get some Bible tracts or ask around the church on how to get them. Throw in a handful of those sweet thingy called candy, and be sure to pray over those tracts! God will do the rest :-) 

Here's the Chick Website. 

What 'harmless' really is.

The below link is one of my invariably favorite article. It was written by a woman whose life call is to urge us to really be set-apart. This opened my eyes and made me understand how serious ‘harmless’ truly is.

It grieves my heart to know that born-again Christians participate and celebrate Halloween in any and every sense of it, and even pass it on to their kids‘ generation. I know of someone whose little child is going to a Halloween kids party on November 1st, dressed as ‘Joseph Prince’. 

Being dressed as Pastor Prince, dynamic as he is for God’s glory, does not justify this kid’s participation in the celebration of Halloween trick-or-treating. I could be dressed as Moses, or Elijah, or Benny Hinn, but these facades will never give me any protection from how darkness operates in the spiritual realm, which, we have to know, has already been given full access to the kid’s spirit and sowing seeds that are unquestionably not of GOD's. 

It sure did remind me of 1 Corinthians 8:9: Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. I am in no way judging them, but for those of us who know the truth, God is also expecting something from us (please read Luke 12:48).

And for those of us who really know the truth, please do refrain from doing anything that will cause others - pre-believers, believers, and the weak, to stumble. Better not do (an action) that will cause a brother or a sister to stumble when they see you doing it. 

I am speaking to myself as well. May we really DESIRE + ALLOW GOD to make us 'set-apart' people in these last days.

Here's the article link (thank you). 

Halloween Recall (Parenting 101)

Halloween Recall (an awareness/concern with the situation at hand) 

Journey 101 - Leg 3. Call me a month advance, but this is what God has been speaking to my heart as I stumbled upon article after another of Halloween Recall: Proverbs 22:6 says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 

As with my other recent posts, they have something to do with the approaching worldwide and WORLDLY Halloween festivity. Yet if we confess with our mouth that we are born of the Spirit and a worshipper of Jesus Christ, we no longer conform to the patterns of the world (Romans 12:2). 

Who, then, will inherit our eternal fortune? Who will we pass them on to? And when is the best time to start? 

I can hear you say, “My kids, of course” and “Now!“ with conviction. So, when will we start telling our kids about Jesus? 

And when, too, will we start telling our kids that they cannot and must not associate with the works of darkness? Matthew 6:24 says no one can serve two masters (God and money). In the same way, no one can serve two masters by professing our devotion to God but serving satan with our actions. If we truly, truly believe in Proverbs 22:6, the best time to start with the truth is in their childhood. 

I can’t begin to imagine how darkness operates, but as godly parents, we can start putting a covering of protection on our children through prayers, and by making sure (and making them understand) that they don’t engage in activities that involve darkness - no matter how “common, harmless, fun, everybody’s-into-it, trendy, and highly popular" they may be.

It pays off in the long run. Our children will reap blessings because the Holy Spirit is free to operate in their spirit. And they will thank the Father for making us wise enough to deal with that in their early years.

[Here's facing Halloween: Do we hide our light, instead of letting it shine?]